 Meet Don. Don is in his first year of graduate school, and, like many of you, is still somewhat uncertain about the research proposals, papers, and projects he will face in the coming semesters. How can he be expected to add his voice to a conversation that has gone on long before he began studying these topics? Does he know enough? After all, he's just a graduate student. What authority does he have, and he's not really a scholar? Actually, Don is not just a graduate student. He is a graduate student who is starting to ask questions, form ideas, and propose research studies. Don is, in fact, a scholar, and he is joining a group of scholars each time he engages with research. Consider it this way. Each article, book, website, or piece of information you read is just one very small part of a much larger conversation. For example, in this 2014 article, the authors conducted a research study to better understand project management efforts in less traditional organizational structures. However, these authors are certainly not the first to discuss, study, and advance ideas about project management or organizational structures. In just the first few paragraphs, readers can see several other works are cited, and a quick glance at the reference list shows sources extend back to the 60s among more recent sources of information. By incorporating and citing other work, the authors are not only acknowledging prior studies on the topic, but they are having a conversation with these prior authors and adding their own voice to that conversation. And then the conversation continues into the future. New authors will tackle this topic and reference this study in their future work. In this way, many articles and authors are connected and related works can be found simply by starting with one piece of information. When Don sits down to write a term paper, he is putting on his scholar cap as he engages in a review of prior studies. Don will consult research to guide the development of his own research questions. Learning about the research that has already been done on a topic helps him understand what other scholars agree and disagree about and where they think more research needs to be done. He understands not every article he reads will say the same thing or provide the exact same evidence. It's his job to identify the gaps in disagreement. In the end, Don will have to evaluate the various approaches in research presented and develop his own ideas, asking additional questions that will further the conversation. Many graduate students will go on to have their work published or presented at state or even national conferences. Or it may be that your final product never reaches anyone other than your professor. But regardless, you are still conversing with the research, asking questions and pushing ideas forward. And in this way, you are joining the conversation as a scholar.